8 Important Sources of Energy

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By ‘energy problem’ we mean the problem of providing fuels or energy in its various forms at reasonable cost to those who need them, wherever they arc. At present, India faces an energy shortage of 10 per cent and a peak load shortage of 13.4 per cent.

In order to meet that demand, our power generation capacity would have to increase more than six times by 2032. On the basis of use, energy is divided into (i) Commercial and (ii) Non-commercial energy.

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Commercial energy is used by production sector while almost whole of the iron-conunercial energy is consumed by the household sector. Proportion of commercial energy has been increasing from 26% in 1950-51 to around 70%) at present.

To meet the projected power requirement by 2012, an additional capacity of 1, 00,000 MW was required during the Tenth and Eleventh Five Year Plans. The capacity addition achieved during the Tenth Plan was 21,180 MW.

The addition proposed during Eleventh plan by Planning Commission is 78,700 MW comprising 15,627 MW hydro, 59,693 MW thermal and 3,380 MW nuclear. Following are the sources of commercial energy:

Sources of Energy

1. Coal:

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Coal is the main source of energy in India and it accounts for about 67% of country’s commercial requirements. In 2005-06, coal-based thermal power stations contributed about 75% of the total power generation. India ranks third in the world regarding coal production after China and America. Coal production which was around 32.30 million tonnes in 1950-51 increased to 572.25 million tonnes in 2010-11.

2. Petroleum:

Petroleum consumption has been increasing faster than the petroleum production in India. As a result India’s dependence on imports of crude oil has been rising to meet the domestic requirement of petroleum. In 2007-08 crude oil production was 36 million tonnes (estimated).

3. Natural Gas:

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Natural gas can be used for both domestic and industrial purposes. It finds application in the power, fertiliser and petrochemical industries. Total gross production amounted to 32.89 billion cubic metres in 2008-09 while registered demand for natural gas in the country was around 95 billion cubic metres.

4. Hydro Power:

In 2008-09 level of hydro-electricity generation was 113.08 billion Kwh by utilities. In countries like Norway and Brazil its contribution is more than 90% in their total electricity generation. To meet the requirement of additional capacity during the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17), a shelf of 87 hydro projects of capacity 20,334 MW has been tentatively identified as candidate projects.

5. Atomic Energy:

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India is now one of the few countries which have made considerable progress in the field of atomic energy. In 2009, 17 atomic reactors were working in the country with Lotal energy production of 4120 MW. Five other atomic reactors are under construction. Total electricity generated in this sector was 14.71 billion Kwh in 2007-08 which was around 3% of total electricity generated.

Atomic energy can be produced by using uranium and thorium. The deposits of uranium in India are limited. In 2005, they were estimated at 34,300 tonnes. Uranium is found in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. India’s thorium deposits have been estimated at 3, 63,000 tonnes which are the largest in the world. Monazite is the source of thorium. It is found in Kerala, Karnataka and Bihar.

6. Solar Energy:

This energy is increasingly being used for varied purposes, such as water heating, cooking, electrification, distillation of water, timber seasoning, etc. It has been estimated that India can generate 20 MW solar powers per square km land area. However, a major problem in harnessing solar energy is that it is not available in a concentrated form. Moreover, it is highly variable. Solar energy for high heat applications at a steady rate can be produced only at a high cost.

7. Wind Power:

According to the report of Renewable Energy Ministry, the established potential of wind energy in the country was 5310 MW on March 31, 2006. Thus India is fourth in wind power generation after Germany, Spain and USA.

However, India has the potential of 45,000 MW wind power generation. A Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET) has been set up at Chennai with the objectives of promoting and accelerating the utilisation of wind power.

8. Biomass:

In March, 2006 estimated potential of biomass power cogeneration was 66,000 MW while the actual achievement was only 912.53 MW. Under the National Project for Biogas Development nearly 3.2 million biogas plants was set up by the end of Tenth Plan. India has achieved leadership position in the biomass gasification technology and systems are being exported to many countries.